The whole faux urban city suddenly shook!
Everyone quickly felt the jolt in their legs from the powerful tremor!
"What the—?!"
"Wha-?!"
"W-was that an earthquake...?!"
They all were shocked by the sudden shift in the city...
But their shock would not end there.
"A-another earthquake!?"
"W-what's going on?!"
The ground shook once more—and continued to do so—tumbling many of the examinees by the great force felt beneath their feet.
And then...
Something came out.
Something massive... looming over all of them... and even the whole faux concrete structures around them...!
Then... they saw 'it.' They all saw what had came upon them.
Eyes widened. Mouths agape.
Gasps escaped their mouths as their heads craned upward—
A humongous robot had appeared.
A monstrosity made out of metal, towering over everything in its vicinity.
"...What the hell...?"
"Is that...?"
"Oh no..."
"T-that's...!"
"T-the Zero Pointer...?!"
Everyone realized quickly what it was.
The Zero Pointer faux villain robot.
The opponent that they had all been warned about.
A massive robot–hybrid tank with wide metal treads that occupied the entire faux urban highway, its two giant mechanical arms easily crushing any structure they grasped.
For a moment, everything stood still... as all of the examinees watched with bated breath upon the ultimate deterrent to their futures as heroes.
Then—
It began its rampage.
ROARRRRR—!
It raised its giant fist up to the air...
And then brought it down on a nearby building—!
CRASH—!
The building was instantly obliterated by its fist! Sending debris everywhere and shaking the whole street where it was standing!
"Kyaah!"
"Watch out!"
Panic and screams erupted from the examinees as they all witnessed—and felt—the destruction caused by the metal monstrosity.
But it was only just beginning.
It advanced with its heavy metal treads, crushing any obstacle in its path—cars, streetlights, trash bins, traffic signs—everything!
And of course...
Everyone began to scramble in fear—!
"Shit!"
"Run!"
"Get away from it!"
They all ran away, fear, confusion, and panic evident on their faces.
They all knew it was the opponent that they should never come across with.
A warning to future aspiring heroes and even the common folks alike:
That there would be those that they should never, EVER, face against.
Then—
The giant robot suddenly slammed its massive fist down onto the concrete street—!
CRASH—!
A violent tremor shook the faux city as the ground cracked open beneath the impact, forming a deep crater...!
Massive chunks of debris were launched into the air, with dust exploding from the impact zone, covering the entire street in a blinding gray cloud!
Another choir of screams erupted as everyone scrambled further away, terror exploding in their chests...!
By now, everyone had realized the futility of facing off against it.
A few of the examinees were still hesitating at first—thinking of how to approach this metal monstrosity.
But then, they all remembered... and realized...
There was no point in defeating it in the first place.
Because after all... it is the 'Zero Pointer'—an opponent that would not grant them any points whatsoever upon vanquishing it.
And so... they too retreated from it, along with the others that had already been running away.
One particular examinee was the bespectacled, serious young man—who had been the closest to it at the time—but was already gaining good distance thanks to his Quirk—
But then, he suddenly made a brake stop as something caught his eyes—!
"...Y-you...!?"
Right in the middle of the highway—where many of the examinees were still running away from the danger behind them...
One green-haired young man was standing tall, without a shred of fear evident on his face...!
"Oh~! So that's the Zero Pointer robot...!"
Instead, his face was filled with almost childlike wonder...!
As if he had discovered something extraordinary—
As if he was seeing a brand-new toy to play with...!
"Cool~! It almost looks like a Guntank!" he exclaimed in giddy excitement. "Though it looks like it's more inclined to melee offense rather than large-mounted 'gun,' huh? Ahaha~."
Izuku kept on rambling and even laughing to himself—his excitement over seeing the 'mecha's coolness' far more important than the seemingly overwhelming danger it imposed.
The bespectacled young man was already weirded out by Izuku's nonchalant behavior... and this bizarre fascination weirded him out even more...
And so, he quickly passed by the still awe-struck Izuku, not wanting to deal with the latter's potential shenanigans...
And yet...
Something tugged at him.
Iida Tenya—for his whole life—suddenly felt a strange curiosity taking over him, as he made another emergency stop, skidding his feet on the concrete highway...!
"..."
He glanced back... and saw the same nonchalant green-haired man, still muttering and muttering, completely unfazed by the slowly advancing Zero Pointer in front of him.
"Hmm... I wonder how they even built this thing..."
Izuku kept on muttering to himself, ignorant to the chaos erupting around him—he alone, the last person still standing against the giant 'mecha.'
"You gotta watch out for that anti-mecha square-cube law stuff, but I guess they worked around that by just giving it tank treads instead of legs—"
All of a sudden, Izuku's rambling stopped—his own eyes had caught something...!
A figure... stuck beneath the rubble just a few meters away from the impact zone of the giant robot's recent carnage...!
And it was—
Uraraka Ochako—!
"Ugh..."
She was pinned under a large chunk of broken concrete, her arm stretched out as if still trying to crawl away... but she couldn't muster the strength to do so...!
Izuku stood frozen on the spot, eyes wide in realization...!
But then... they slowly narrowed.
His nonchalant smile faded before his expression turned serious...!
And then—he raised his right hand.
A digitized aura suddenly enveloped it... before something began to materialize—!
A white apparatus.
"T-that's—!"
And for Iida Tenya—one of the few examinees still brave enough to watch the chaos unfold—recognition struck immediately.
It was the 'driver' device of the (in)famous Kamen Rider vigilante...!
But Izuku couldn't care less about onlookers knowing his identity.
He had a more important matter at hand... and that was—
Saving a friend.